Status and Trends

In developing countries 15 per cent of infants, or more than 1 in 7, weigh less than 2,500 grams at birth. A total of 19 million newborns each year in the developing world weigh less than 2,500 grams at birth, and more than half of them are born in South Asia, which has the highest incidence of low birthweight by far, at 27 per cent. India has the highest number of low-birthweight babies each year: 7.4 million.   

19 million newborns weigh less than 2,500 grams in the developing world, more than half in South Asia
Number of infants weighing less than 2,500 grams at birth, in millions, 2005–2009

                                    
Source: UNICEF global databases 2010, from Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), Demographic Health Surveys (DHS) and other national surveys.

More than one quarter of newborns in South Asia weigh less than 2,500 grams at birth
South Asia is also the region with the highest proportion not weighed at birth, 2005–2009

Note: Regional averages of births not weighed are not available for Latin America and Caribbean, East Asia and Pacific and Central and Eastern Europe/Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS), due to lack of data.
Source: UNICEF global databases 2020, from MICS, DHS and other national surveys.

Trend analysis is difficult

There is a lack of comparable estimates over time, both within and between countries. Limited trend data, however, are available from MICS and DHS, covering 50 developing countries, or about 60 per cent of the developing world's population, excluding China.

A population-weighted average for available survey points shows that the incidence of low birthweight remained roughly constant from the 1990s to 2008. The lack of change appears to apply in both sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Available trend data are insufficient for other regions.